Operating mechanism for wire-stitching and stapling machines or like apparatus



Jan. 12, 1932. A MAYNARD 1,840,461

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR WIRE STITCHING AND STAPLING MACHINES OR LIKE APPARATUS Filed Sept. 9, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 12, 1932. A. H. MAYNARD 1,840,461 OPERATING MECHANISM FOR WIRE STITCHING AND STAPLING MACHINES OR LIKE APPARATUS Filed Sept. 9, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 9, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1932- A H. MAYNARD OPERATING MECHANISM F R WIRE STITCHING AND STAPLING MACHINES OR LIKE APPARATUS Filed Sept.

@faQ

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 warren STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR H. MAYNARD, OF \VARWICK, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO BOSTON WIRE STIT'CHER COMPANY, OF PORTLAND,

MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE OPERATING- MECHANFSM FOR WIRE-STITCHING AND STAPLING MACHINES OR LIKE APPARATUS Application filed September 9, 1929. Serial No. 391,247.

This invention relates to wire-stitching and stapling machines for attaching sheets of paper, fastening the flaps of cartons and boxes, ailixing tags or labels to various commodities or for similar purposes, and particularly to an improved operating-means for the stitcher, stapling machine or like apparatus.

One object of the invention is to provide means for connecting the several mechanisms of the stitching or stapling machine to be operated either manually or by power from a single moving element with a proper synchronization of the various operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for carrying the stapling-head down against the work and operating the stitchingor stapling-mechanism to drive the staple, and thereafter actuating the clincher-mechanism to complete the stapling operation, all timed in proper sequence.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wire-stitcher or stapling machine having its staple-applying means adapted to perform the above mentioned cycle of operations on difi'erent thicknesses of work without requiring change or adjustment in any part of the mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wire-stitching or stapling machine which is universally adaptable for practical 1y all types of work irrespective of the size or thickness of the stock or the number of pieces being operated upon.

Further objects of the improvement are set forth in the following specification which describes a preferred form of construction of the invention by way of example as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved wire-stitching or stapling machine shown as adapted to be operated from a foot-lever or treadle;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the upper portion of the machine showing the stapling mechanism in operation on a relatively thin piece of work;

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the stapling-mechanism operating on work of greater thickness than that shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. d is an enlarged front view showing the stapling-mechanism in position as illustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the upper portion of the machine, taken on line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the toggle connections for the operating-means of the machine; and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view of the same taken on line 7-7 of Fig. .3.

The present improved operating-means may be applied to use with practically all types of wire-stitching and stapling machines and also to apparatus of a similar character where the work to be operated upon varies in thickness throughout relatively wide limits. In the present embodiment of the invention the improved operating-means are shown as applied to a stapling machine for attaching sheets of paper, fastening the flaps of cardboard cartons and boxes, aflixing tags, labels or the like to other objects, and for many other purposes.

The machine comprises, in general, a main standard or column 2 supported from a suitable base 3 having feet 4 which rest on the floor, and provided with a forwardly projecting arm or rest 5 on which the work is supported. The arm or work-support 5 as herein shown is constructed from two opposite sideplates 6, see Fig. 4, bolted to the sides of the column 2 at 7. A flat bar 8 is inserted between the upper edges of the plates 6 and rivetted thereto as shown in Fig. l. Hinged above the work-support 5 is a stapling-arm 9 which carries the head 10 containing the wire-stitching or stapling mechanism at its forward end. The stapling-arm 9 maybe employed as a magazine for carrying a supply of formed staples, indicated at s in Fig. l, and the means for driving the staples into the work may comprise a vertically reciprocable plunger 11 carrying a staple-driver l2 constructed in the form of a hardened blade; these parts being herein illustrated as of the same form and construction as shown and described in my pending application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 241,591 filed December 21, 1927.

In machines of the present type the staples are driven down through the work and their legs bent over and clinched against the underside thereof. The clinching operation may be performed by any suitable means and, as shown in the present drawings, the clincher-device comprises a pair of pivoted levers or dogs 15, see Fig. 4, which are adapted to be swung upwardly to bend over the legs of the staple. The dogs or clinchers 15 are operated from a vertically slidable clincher-rest 16 actuated by means as later described. The clinchers 15 are pivoted on pins or rivets 17 extending through a front-plate 18 fastened to the end of the arm or work-support 5, and bear against the curved upper edge of the clincher-rest 16. The clincher-rest 16 is adapted-to slide upwardly therebeneath, being guided between the plate 18 and the end of the arm 5 by rivets 19 and held in place by a screw 20 passing through the front plate and a slot 21 in the rest.

In the present construction the clincherrest 16 is slid upwardly under the action of a rockable bar or lever 25, the forward end of which engages beneath the lower curved edge of the rest. The lever 25 is arranged between the side-plates 6 of the work-support or arm 5, being pivoted on a stud or pin 26 extending through holes in the plates. The outer end of the lever 25 is normally main tained depressed under the action of a spring 27 held in pockets on the underside of the bar 8 and in the top of the lever. The rearward end of the lever 25 is formed with a tongue or spline 28 which fits into a slot 29 on the forward face of a vertical sliding bar 30. The bar 30 abuts the forward side of the standard or column 2 and its lower end is adapted to slide through a guide 31 overlapping the sides of the column and fastened thereto by means of screws 32. The bar 30 is formed with lugs 33 projecting from its opposite sides and adapted to be engaged by means to be later described which act to slide the bar downwardly to rock the lever 25 whereby to cause its forward end to raise the clincher-rest 16 to operate the clinchers 15.

The stapling-arm 9 as herein illustrated is constructed in the form of a flat bar across which the staples s are straddled and held in place'by suitable overlying side-plates 13. The rearward end of the arm 9 is formed with a depending portion pivoted on a cross-stud 35 which is held in opposite side-plates 36 fastenedto the top of the standard or column 2 by means of screws 37 Forward ofthe pivot-stud 35 the arm 9 is formed with a pocket 38 containing a spring 39 acting against a plunger 40 which bears against the top of the standard 2. The spring-plunger 40 tends to maintain the stapling-arm 9 with its forward end raised above the work-support 5 as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The stapling-arm 9 is rocked to carry the stapling-head 10 down against the work through the operation of means as next described.

Disposed on opposite sides of the staplingarm 9 are two elbow-shaped arms pivoted on the stud 35 which supports the staplingarm. As shown in Fig. 5, the stud 35 is extended beyond the sides of the plates 36 to receive a pair of thimble-like bushings 46 held in place by spring-rings 47 engaging suitable grooves in the ends of the stud. The bushings 46 project through suitable holes in the arms 45 and are provided with flanges at their ends which hold the arms in place against spacer-washers 48 enclosing the bushings. and abutting the sides of the plates 36. The arms 45 may be constructed of sheetmetal and are preferably formed with longitudinal ribs 49 for stiii'ening and bracing them throughout their length.

Pivoted to the outer ends of the arms 45 are a pair of links 50 which are likewise pivotally connected to the sides of the stapleplunger 11. Referring to Fig. 4, the lower ends of the Jinks 50 have studs 51 riveted thereto with their enlarged ends inserted through flanged sleeves or bushings 52 in the ends of the arms 45. The pivot-studs 51 are held in the bushings 52 by means of wirespring-rings 53 engaging peripheral grooves in the ends of the studs. As shown most clearly in Fig. 4, the plunger 11 encloses the front of the head 10 on which it slides and is provided with projecting studs or pins 54 engaging holes in the upper ends of the links 50. It will be understood from the foregoing that when the forward ends of the arms or levers 45 are rocked downwardlythe staplingarm 9 will be correspondingly moved on the same pivot 35 to bring the stapling-head down against the work held on the arm or support 5.

The stapling-plunger 11 is normally held in raised position on the head 10 through the means of a compression-spring 14 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4 and operating in the manner and for the purpose as described in my co-pending application hereinbefore referred to. The spring 14 which maintains the plunger 11 in raised position on the head 10 is considerably stronger than the spring 39 for raising the stapling-arm 9 and, consequently, the rocking of the arms 45 will first actto depress the forward end of the stapling arm before causing the descent of the plunger. After the stapling-arm has been rocked downwardly to bring the stapling-head 10 against the work, continued movement of the arms 45 will act through the links 50 to slide the plunger 11 to cause the staple to be driven through the work in the manner as hereinafter more fully explained;

In its present embodiment the invention is shown as applied'to use on a foot-power or treadleoperated stapling machine although, as before mentioned, it may be used with a motor or belt drive. The treadle-lever may be of forked construction with .opposite arms 56 straddling the base 3 of the machine and pivoted to the front thereof at 57. Pivotally joined to the ends of the arms 56 of the treadle at 59 are a pair of links 60 which reach upwardly for connection with the ends of the rocker-arms 45. As shown more particularly in Fig. 7, the upper ends of the links 60 are connected by a cross-stud 61 having an enlarged central body portion. Pivoted on the reduced ends 62 of the cross-stud 61 are a pair of shorter links 63, the upper ends of which are pivotally connected to the ends of the rocker-arms 45 by means of a crosspin 64.

The enlarged body of the stud 61 is scored with a central peripheral groove 65 for receiving the hooked end of a helical spring 66, see Figs. 1 and 6. The lower end of the spring 66 is anchored to a hook 67 screwed into the side of the standard 2 and locked in place by a check-nut 68. The spring 66 is thus caused to pull down on the links 60 to maintain the forward ends of the treadle raised.

The links 60 are also connected at their upper ends to a pair of rockable arms or levers 70 which serve as the means for sliding the bar 30 to rock the lever 25 which actuates the clinchers 15. As shown in Fig. 7, the reduced portions of the stud 61 which connect the links 60 with the shorter links 63 pass through holes in the ends of the arms or levers 70 which are disposed within the sides of the links 63.

The arms or levers 70 are pivoted on a movable fulcrum comprising a cross-pin 71 passing through a pair of tria-ngularly- .MT-ilpQCl levers 72 which are pivoted to the sides of the column or standard 2 by'means of a pin 73, see Figs. 1, 6 and 7. It will be noted from these views that the cross-pin 71, which connects the arms 70 to the levers 72, passes through an enlarged hole 74 in the column 2. Through this arrangement the levers 72 are permitted to swing on their pivot 73 within certain limits as defined by the sides of the hole or opening 74 with which the crosspin 71 engages. The outer ends of the lever 72 are connected by a stud 7 5 havlng an enlarged body formed with a peripheral groove 76. see Figs. 6 and 7, and reduced ends passing through holes in the levers. A helical spring 77 has its end hooked around the grooved central portion of the stud with its opposite extremity anchored to a hook 78 screwed into the top of the column 2. All of the several pivot-pins as above described are held in place in their respective locations by means of split spring-rings sprung into peripheral grooves at their ends.

The construction and arrangement of the parts of the improved device having now been described in detail the method of operation of the complete machine will next be explained. Whatever the character of the work to be operated upon the machine is self-adjustable or self-conforming to the thickness of the stock and the number of layers to be stapled or stitched together. To prepare the machine for operation it is only necessary to supply it with the staples s of the required size which are placed on the core or central bar of the stapling-arm 9. The staples are fed forward to the stapling-mechanism by means of a staple-pusher or feeding-device indicated generally at 24 and arranged in any suitable manner, for instance, in accordance with my co-pending application hereinbefore referred to. The treadle 55 is normally held in raised position as shown in Fig. 1 under the action of the spring 66 which tends to draw the links 60 downwardly. With the treadle in this position the forward ends of the rocker-arms 45 will be raised and the stapling-a rm 9 elevated to allow the insertion of the work beneath the stapling-head 10. The work to be stapled is laid across the top of the arm or support 5 with the operator holding it in position as he stands at the front of the machine. The foot is then pressed down against the treadle 55 and the following sequence of operations ensues:

As the forward end of the treadle 55 is depressed its rearward arms 56 force the links 60 upwardly to cause them to act through the connecting-links 63 to rock the arms 45. As the outer ends of the arms 45 are rocked downwardly the links 50 draw the stapling-arm 9 down to cause the stapling-head 10 to be carried against the work in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. After thestaplinghead has been brought down against the work held on the support 5 the further movement of the treadle will continue the rocking motion of the arms 45 to cause the plunger 11 to slide down 011 the head 10; it being understood that the head 10 continues to be pressed against the work with sufficient force to hold the latter in place. As the plunger 11 is slid down on the head 10 the staple-driver 12 carried thereby slides down against the foremost staple in the series to drive its legs down through the Work.

During these steps in the operation of depressing the stapling-head against the work and driving the staple therethrough the links 60 operate through the links 63 to rock the arms 45, whilst the arms 70 are simply turned on their pivot on the compensating-levers 72. The rearward ends of the levers 72 are normally drawn upward with the cross-pin 71 engaging the rearward side of the hole 74 in the column 2, as shown in Fig. 1, so that thelevers 7O swing on a fixed pivot. lVhen, however, the arms 45 have been rocked to the limit of movement required to draw down the plunger 11 to-drive the staple clear through the work and further movement of the arms is restricted, the links 60 will have rocked the levers 70 into position with their free ends above the lugs 33 on the vertical sliding bar 30. At this point the links (52) and levers 70 function more or less in the nature of a toggle-joint. Referring to Fig. 2, the continued upward motion of the links 60 will swing the links 63 around their pivots 64, but the motion of the treadle will be communicated only to the levers 70 to cause the free ends of the latter to rock downwardly to slide the bar 30 down on the front of the column 2. During this action the triangular l yers 72 are displaced or rocked against the tension of their springs 77 to allow the pivot 71 of the levers 70 to be shifted to the right as viewed in Fig. 2. That is to say, since the two pivot-pins 64 and 71 must separate under the toggle action of the links 63 and levers 70 the pivot for the levers 70 is allowed to move by the rocking action of the levers 72. The arms levers 70 there fore slide across the lugs on the bar 30 as they act to depress the latter under the rocking action of the levers.

. As the bar 30 is slid downwardly its connection at 28, 29 with the bar or lever 25 causes the outer end of the latter to be lifted to slide the clincher-rest 16 upwardly. The upper edge of the clincher-rest bears against the rounded ends of the clinchers 15 and through this engagement the clinchers are rocked upwardly whereby they act to bend the legs of the staple inwardly to clinch them against the underside of the work. Thus as the treadle is carried down to complete its stroke the final movement of the links 60 connected therewith will operate the clinchermechanism to set the staple in the work. After this operation is completed the pressure on: the treadle is released and the spring 66 will thereupon act through the links to return the parts tofirst position. The spring (ifidraws the links '60 downwardly to raise the treadle 55 while at the same time acting to rock the arms l?) to lift the staplingarm 9 away from the work; it being understood that in the meantime the plunger 11 will have been carried back to raised position under the action of its spring 14.

As the links 60 are drawn downwardly the arms or levers 70 will be rocked t remove their ends from the lugs 33 on the slide bar 30 and through this'action the clincher-operating lever 25 will be rocked downwardly by its spring 27 to release the clincher-rest 16 whereby the clinchers 15 may return to first position as showninFig. 4.

Fig. 2 of the drawin represents the parts of the machine in position at the completion of the operation of applying a staple to relatively thin objects. It will be notedby reference to this view that forthis character of work the stapling-head 10 is brought down to such an extent that the fulcrum or pivot 71 of the levers 70 is only removed from its bearing against the side of the hole 74 to a slight degree. However, when work of greater thickness is being operated upon, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the stapling-head 10 is held from depression to the same extent and, therefore, as the arms 45 reach the end of their throw the pivot 71 for the levers 70 is displaced quite considerably, that is, moved farther to the right as the levers operate on the slide 30. It will thus be seen that the triangular levers 72 act automatically as a compensator to adjust the parts in relation as required by the length of stroke of the arms 45 in accordance ith different thicknesses of work. In this way the whole machine is rendered self-adjusting to conform to the character of the work being performed without previous setting of the mechanism.

While the present invention is shown as embodied in an operating-means for the stapling machine which is actuated from a treadle, it is to be understood that the device may be employed with other forms of power, for instance, with a motor-driven machine. For this purpose it is only necessary that means be provided for imparting the necessary reciprocating motion to the links 60, and such means may comprise an eccentric or crank as shown and described in my application for patent, Serial No. 391,- 248 filed September 9, 1929.

It is also to be understood that the construction and arrangement of the mechanism of the improved device may be modified to adapt the invention to other types of machines, and its method of application may also be varied without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims. Therefore, without limiting myself to the exact embodiment of the invention as herein shown, I claim:

1. A wire-stitching or stapling machine comprising staple-driving means, a lever for operating said means, a reciprocable member connected to actuate said lever, clinchermeans for bending over the legs of the staple, a second lever operated from the reciprocable member to actuate the clincher-means after the staple has been driven through the work, and means operating automatically to displace the fulcrum of one of said levers to vary the range of movement of the other lever in accordance with the thickness of the work being operated upon.

2. A wire-stitching or stapling machine comprising staple-driving means, a lever for operating said means, a reciprocable member, means for reciprocating said member, means connecting said member to rock the lever, clincher-means for bending over the legs of the staple, a second lever for operating the clincher-means, means connecting the reciprocable member to operate the second lever to actuate the clincher-means after the staple has been driven through the work and means operating automatically to shift the fulcrum of one of said levers to regulate the range of movement of the other lever in accordance with the thickness of the work being operated upon.

8. A wire-stitching or stapling machine comprising staple-driving means, a lever for operating said means, a reciprocable member, means connecting said reciprocable member to rock the lever, clincher-means for bending over the legs of the staple, a second lever operated from the reciprocable member to actuate he clincher-means, and means for pivotally mounting said second lever to adapt its fulcrum to be automatically adjusted in position to compensate for variations in the ran e of movement of the first lever as regulated by the thickness of stock being operated upon.

at. A wire-stitching or stapling machine comprising a movable stapling-head, stapledriving means carried by said head, a lever connected to move the stapling-head against the work and thereafter actuate the stapledriving means, a reciprocable member, means connecting said member to operate the lever to drive the staple through the work, clinchermeans for bending over the legs of the staple, a second lever operated from the reciprocable member to actuate the clincher-means, and means for pivoting said second lever on a movable fulcrum to automatically compensate for variations in the range of movement of the first lever as caused by different thicknesses of work being operated upon.

5. A wire-stitching or stapling machine comprising staple-driving means, a lever for operating said means, a treadle, a link connccting the treadle to rock the lever, clinchermeans for bending over the legs of the staple, a second lever connected to the link to be moved therefrom to actuate the clincherneans after the first lever has operated the triple-driving means to drive the staple through the work, and means for automatically adjusting the fulcrum of the second lever in accordance with the range of movement of the first lever as determined by the thickness of the work being operated upon.

6. In a wire-stitching or stapling machine,

? the combination of a standard, a work-support on said standard, a stapling-arm pivoted to the standard above the work-support, staple-driving means carried on the staplingarm, clincher-means carried on the work-supl port, a rockable lever for swinging the stapling-arm down against the work and thereactuating the staple-driving means, a reciprocableanember connected to rock said lever, a second lever connected to be rocked from the reciprocable means, means operated from the second lever to actuate the clinchermeans, and means for automatically adjusting the fulcrum of the second lever in accordance with the range of movement of the first lever as determined by the thickness of the work being operated upon.

7. In a wire-stitching or stapling machine, the combination of a standard, a staplingarm pivoted to the top of the standard, staple-driving means carried on said arm, a rockable lever for swinging the arm and thereafter actuating the'staple-driving means, a wor r-support on the standard, clinchermeans on the work-support, a reciprocable member connected to rock the lever to actuate the staple-driving means, a second lever connected to the reciprocable member to be rocked therefrom, a slide slidahle under the action of the second lever, means connecting said slide to actuate the clincher-means, and means for automatically adjusting the fulcrum of the second lever in accordance with the range of movement of the first lever as determined by the thickness of the work being operated upon.

8. In a wire-stitching 0r stapling machine, the combination of a standard, a work-support on said standard, a stapling-arm pivoted on the standard above the work-support, staple-driving means carried by said arm, a rockable lever for swinging the arm down against the work and thereafter actuating the staple-driving means, clincher-means on the work-support, a slide slidable on the standard to operate the clincher-means, a treadle pivoted at the bottom of the standard, a link reciprocable from said treadle and connected to operate the lever for actuating the staple-driving means, a second lever connected to the reciprocable link to be operated therefrom to slide the slide to actuate the clincher-means, and a movable fulcrum for the second lever adapted to alter its position in accordance with the range of movement of the first lever as determined by the thickness of the work being operated upon.

9. In a wire-stitching or stapling machine, the combination of staple-driving means, clincher-means arranged beneath the stapledriving means, a rockable lever for operating the staple-driving means, a reciprocable member, a link connecting said member to rock the lever to actuate the staple-driving means, a compensating lever pivoted on a fixed axis, a third lever fulcrumed. on the compensating lever and connected to the reciprocable member at a distance from its fulcrum, means for limiting the movement of the compensating lever, and means operated from the third lever to actuate the clincher-means.

10. In a wire-stitching or stapling machine, the combination of a standard, a work-support on said standard, staple-driving means above the work-support a lever for operating the staple-driving means, clinchermeans on the work-support, a reciprocable member, a link connecting said reciprocable member to rock the lever for the staple-driving means, a second lever fulcrumed on the standard, a third lever pivoted to the second lever and pivotally connected to the reciprocable-member at a distance from its fulcrum, means for limiting the swinging movement of the second lever, and means operative from the third lever after the completion of the stroke of the first lever to actuate the clinchermeans.

11. In a machine of the character specified, the combination of a standard, a staplingarm pivoted to the standard, staple-driving means carried on said arm, a Work-support on the standard, clincher-means on the worksupport, a lever pivoted on the pivot of the stapling-arm, a link connecting one end of said lever to the staple-driving means, a reciprocable member, a link connecting the opposite end-of the first lever to the reciprocable member, a second lever pivoted on the standard, a third lever pivoted on the second lever and pivotally connected to the reciprocablemember, a spring for resisting the movement of the second lever, means for limiting the movement of the second lever against the action of its spring, and means operated from the third lever at the end of the stroke of the first lever to actuate the clincher-means.

12. In a wire-stitching or stapling machine, the combination of a work-support, a stapling-head adapted to be moved against the work held on the support, staple-driving mechanism carried by said head, clinchermechanism on the work-support, a lever for moving the head against the work and subsequently operating the staple-driving means, means for operating the clinchermechanism, a reciprocable member, a link connecting said member to actuate the operating-lever for the staple-driving means, a second lever operated from said member to actuate the clincher-operating means, and means for automatically displacing the fulcrum of the last named lever to adapt it to adjust itself to the range of movement of the first lever in accordance with varying thicknesses of work being operated upon.

13. In a wire-stitching or stapling machine, the combination of a work-support, a stapling-arm hinged to swing toward and away from the work-support, staple-driving means carried on said stapling-arm. a lever for swinging the stapling-arm and subsequently operating the staple-driving means, clinchermechanism on the work-support, means for operatingsaid clincher-mechanism, a reciprocable member, a link connecting the reciprocable member to actuate the operatinglever for the staple-driving means, a second lever connected to be moved from said reciprocable member to actuate the clincher-operating means, and means for pivoting said last-named lever to adapt it to automatically adjust its position in accordance with the range of movement of the first operatinglever.

14. In a wire-stitching or stapling machine, the combination of a Work-support, stapledriving means arranged above said worksupport, a rockable lever for operating the staple-driving means, a clincher-device on the Work-support, a reciprocable member, means connecting said member to rock the operating-lever for the staple-driving means, a compensating lever, a lever pivoted to the compensating lever and linked to the reciprocable means to be rocked therefrom, and means actuated by said lever to operate the clincher-device, said last-named lever adapted to be rocked during the rocking of the first operating-lever and to continue its rocking motion thereafter to actuate the clincherdevice with its pivot adjusting itself in accordance with the extent of movement of the first operating-lever as regulated by the thickness of the .YOIlZ being operated upon.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature.

ARTHUR H. MAYNARD. 

